3 Tropical forests are obviously a source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere through land use change

4 and why Atlantic Forest???????But what are the dynamics of C in intact forests and what is their potential to respond to global environmental change such as- increased CO2- climate change- anthropogenic pressure ?and why Atlantic Forest???????

11 How does the structure and the function of the forest change along this altitudinal gradient?0 m1,000 m

12 Our questions –What is the capacity for these forests to store C?Where could it be stored and for how long?Our approach –First - Look at components of C stocks: Above and below ground and the environmental variables that control them.Use radiocarbon to determine the residence time of carbon in trees and soils

32 Propagation of error in estimating the biomass of Tropical ForestData qualityAllometric model qualitySize of the sampled areaHow well the plots represent the forestDBH of one treeAGB of one treeAGB of one plotAGB of the forestmeasurementAllometric modelSum of treesMean of plotsChave et al. (2004)

42 AltitudeA distribuição das principais formas de vida não foi similar entre as diferentes fitofisionomias, contribuindo para a variação na estrutura florestal. Um dos plots (F) is remarkably different, showing a high number of tree ferns and a low number of palms per hectare. Recently, old residents have reported that the area had been logged years ago. The farm owners logged a timber species, Hieronyma alchorneoides.